a-, an- +
(Greek: a prefix meaning: no, absence of, without, lack of, not)
These prefixes are normally used with elements of Greek origin, a- is used before consonants and an- is used before vowels.
It affects the meanings of hundreds of words.
There are too many words that use these prefix elements to list all of them on this site; however, there are significant examples listed in this and the other units where they exist.
acardia
1. Without a heart.
2. Having no heart.
acarpous
Without fruit, not bearing fruit; sterile.
acatalepsia
1. Impairment of the reasoning faculty.
2. An abnormal inability to comprehend, or to understand; a form of mental deficiency.
3. In philosophy, an incomprehensibleness, or the impossibility of comprehending or conceiving anything.
Incomprehensibility of things; such as, the doctrine held by the ancient Skeptic philosophers, that human knowledge never amounts to certainty, but only to probability.
acatalepsy
1. An ancient Skeptical view that no more than probable knowledge is available to human beings.
2. The impossibility of complete discovery or comprehension; incomprehensibility.
3. The ancient doctrine that nothing cn be known with certitude.
This suggests that medical diagnostic or prognostic judgments are inherently uncertain.
acataleptic
1. A reference to being deficient in understanding.
2. Characterized by being unknowable; necessarily uncertain.
acathexia
Inability to retain bodily secretions.
acathisia
The inability to sit down because of the intense anxiety provoked by the thought of doing so.
It may also apply to the inability to sit still and to other irritative, hyperkinetic symptoms that are sometimes seen as a complication of neuroleptic therapy.
acaudal
Without a tail; tailess (no tail).
acaudate
1. Without, or lacking, a tail.
2. Characterized by the congenital absence of a tail in an individual of a species that normally has this appendage.
acaulescent
With no stem or with a stem that is very short.
acausal
Not causal or not having to do with a cause and effect.
acedia
Spiritual apathy or boredom.
acellular
Containing no cells.
acenesthesia
1. Absence of the normal sense of physical existence and well-being and of the regular functioning of the bodily organs.
2. Absence of any feeling of physical existence; a common symptom in many psychiatric conditions.
acentric
Not central; not located in the center; without a center.
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